by Delia Roan
Jenna clutched the pendant on her chest. She stared into the jewel for a moment, lost in the swirling galaxies within. When she looked up, Lithyon glared at the pendant with a predator’s hunger.
“I… I can’t go back,” whispered Jenna, tears began to stream down her face. “I can’t. Not until I know Kovos will be safe.”
Lithyon snorted. “You claim to love him, but you humans know nothing of love. Your human hearts are as shallow as your brains.”
Jenna frowned. “But you claim to love him? So why try to poison him?”
“I do love him!” Lithyon spun around and began pacing. “He should have been mine. I planned it. The whole thing. I made him need me.” She pointed an elegant finger at Jenna. “Then, you came along. And now all he wants is you. So now I have to improvise.”
“Improvise?” Jenna wiped her face on her sleeve.
Lithyon wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. “In the end, sacrifices must be made.”
“S-Sacrifices? You’re talking about a man! A man you love! I’d rather die than live without Kovos!”
“Yes, but you are not a queen. If Kovos’s death serves a greater good, I am willing to lose him. Besides, he has brothers. Arthon is easily swayed by a pretty face.”
Jenna pushed away from the troeben. Her hands clenched and she shook, ignoring the stream of blood mixing with her tears. “The greater good? Killing Kovos would ruin the Ennoi treaties!”
With a skip, Lithyon closed the distance between them, and bounced the tip of a finger off Jenna’s nose. Jenna swatted away her hand, and Lithyon laughed.
“That is where you’re wrong, dumb little creature. The treaties serve no purpose but to further weaken the Ennoi.”
“That isn’t true,” Jenna blurted out. “They’re doing their best for their people! For your people!”
“No,” Lithyon continued. “They are impotent and useless. The only way to cement lasting peace is for the Council to be destroyed in a tragic Sykorian attack.”
“The Sykorians?” Jenna blinked in confusion. “You’re framing them?”
“Tools to be used. Once that happens, the Ennoi will unite to defeat a common enemy. A single leader can step forward to lead the Ennoi into stability and harmony. A leader who has suffered much, but risen time and time again to put her people first.”
“A leader like you?” Jenna said.
“Precisely!” Lithyon replied.
“So you get to rule the Ennoi. Kovos gets death.” Jenna closed her eyes. “What do I get?”
“Don’t worry, moonsong.” Lithyon crouched, and retrieved the knife. She turned it, letting the light gleam along its length, while she examined the sharpness of the edge. “You get what Kovos gets. It is only fair. After all, since you are now Avowed, killing you would kill him.”
Jenna hunched away. “Please! Please! You have to give me a chance!” Her eyes flicked around the room, desperate for a way out. “Please! I… I’ll bet you! Let’s make a bet!”
Lithyon stopped her slow advance, and tilted her head. “You have nothing I want. If you did, I’d simply take it.”
“But I do!” Jenna cried out. She held up the jewel on her chest. “See? You want this! I know you do! You can’t take this from me, otherwise the light inside will fade! It has to be given willingly!”
And accepted with an open heart, you backstabber!
Lithyon’s gaze grew speculative. “Go on.”
Jenna licked her lips. “Uhm, you can have it. It’s yours. If… If…” She clutched her hands into the fabric of her dress. She couldn’t stop the tears, but she had to keep going. Even if her voice shook. Even if she threw up. She had to keep going.
For Kovos.
“I bet that… that I could… destroy you! With a single gesture!”
For a moment, Lithyon gaped, and then she threw her head back and laughed. “Oh! Oh! That is perfection! You, destroy me! Oh! And if I lose, what should I offer in exchange?”
“Kovos’s life! And mine!”
Lithyon shook her head. “No! Don’t be silly! That’s certainly not enough for such an outlandish wager.”
Jenna bit her lip. “Our lives, the lives of the Ennoi, and the Relay Chains. If I win, you give up the Relays. If you win, I’ll hand over the Promise Jewel, and you… you can kill me. If Kovos survives my death, you won’t lay a finger on him.”
A slow smile crept over Lithyon’s face. “And how are you going to manage — what was it again? Oh, yes — destroying me, delicate moonsong?”
Jenna shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Do you accept my terms?”
Lithyon tapped her teeth with a fingernail. “This is too amusing. You’re so desperate.”
Jenna dropped her head, and clasped her hands in front of her. “I am.”
“I’ll accept, if you beg me.”
“Please…”
“No, grovel.”
Jenna gritted her teeth. Slowly, she dropped to her knees. “Please, my lady. Please, give me a chance.”
Lithyon laughed. “Fine! I accept! Now get up. Would you like the knife back?” She tossed it in the air, and caught it by the blade, offering the handle to Jenna. “You could try to stab me again. Maybe this time, I’ll even hold still for you.”
Jenna sniffed. She grabbed a handful of her gown and wiped her face, paying careful attention to wiping the blood away from her cheeks and temple.
When Jenna lifted her head from the fabric, Lithyon leaned back, the knife forgotten. She blinked in unease. Jenna’s tears were gone. Triumph filled her eyes. Jenna surged to her feet in one fluid movement, and Lithyon stepped back.
“Here’s my gesture, you bitch,” Jenna said.
With a graceful bow, Jenna stepped to the side and extended a hand to point to the troeben. A single green light shone on its surface.
Lithyon froze.
“It’s been broadcasting our conversation to the entire ship,” Jenna said. “Also, Cyndrae went to see if she could set it to broadcast to the Council on Cadam. And the general public. Oh, and maybe through the Relays as well.” She quirked her mouth. “I wonder if that means the Sykorians heard what you said too?”
“No,” whispered Lithyon. “It can’t be. Y-You tricked me!”
“It’s called acting, Lady Lithyon,” Jenna replied. “You dig deep to find emotions, and you show them to the world. But that might be beyond your puny Ennoi understanding.”
“I’ll kill you!” Lithyon launched herself at Jenna.
Jenna dove under her arm and scrambled for the door. She threw it open and screamed as she collided with a broad chest — a familiar broad chest.
“Kovos!” She threw her arms around him.
“Moonsong.” Emotion thickened his voice. He wrapped a single arm around her, while his other hand lowered a sword in Lithyon’s direction. “Seize her,” he commanded. Treylen, and several Haron Ennoi guards stepped forward.
“No! Stay back!” Lithyon raised the knife in her hand. “I am your queen!”
The Haron Ennoi glanced at each other, then their eyes went to Kovos.
“No, Lithyon,” Kovos said. “You wagered away your throne. You are no longer in charge.”
Lithyon screamed, and launched herself at Jenna with the blade raised. Kovos drew Jenna back as the guards disarmed their former queen. Lithyon twisted and spat curses at Jenna as the guards bound her arms. Then they hauled her to her feet and marched her away.
“Did it really work?” Jenna asked. “Did the whole ship hear Lithyon’s plans?”
Kovos nodded, grimly. “Yes, my moonsong. It worked. The entire ship heard. Cyndrae summoned guards, and I found them waiting outside Lithyon’s door, just in case. You risked yourself. Foolishly and needlessly, I might add.”
“My gamble paid off.”
“You could have died!”
Jenna snuggled into his arms. “I knew if I didn’t do something, I’d lose more than just myself.”
Kovos placed his hand on her chin and gently lifted until her eyes met his. “Did you really mean everything you said in there? Would you rather die than live without me?”
Jenna nodded. “Maybe humans feel the Avowal differently, but that doesn’t mean we love differently. You’re my world, Kovos. You’re everything I never knew I wanted. If I leave you, I leave as half a woman, with half a heart.”
Kovos dropped a gentle kiss on her lips. It held a promise of many more to come, but reluctantly, he pulled away.
“Come,” he said. “We have much to clean up.”
Jenna grinned at him. “You know, you’re naked again.”
“I apologize,” Kovos said with a wry smile. “It is becoming a habit.”
That made Jenna laugh. “I like you this way. I like you any way.” She looked up at Kovos through her lashes. “Do we have enough time to find you some clothes? I bet Lithyon has a whole closet full of clothes.”
“A closet, you say?”
“Yes.”
“We can spare a brief moment. Lead the way, my moonsong.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
KOVOS
They’d made love, in a hurried tangle of limbs and desire.
Then she’d talked.
Lying on the closet floor, Kovos wrapped Jenna in his arms and listened as she spilled her heart. She sniffed a few times, but her voice remained strong as she told him her story. How she’d come to Cadam. About her sister. Everything. Relief glowed in her eyes as she finally told the truth. With a gentle finger, he brushed aside a stray tear.
“You did what you thought best,” he said, “but you should have shared your burden with me.”
Jenna nodded. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“No,” he said, before he kissed her forehead. “It will not. For you will never face trouble alone again. I will be by your side always.”
With great reluctance, he stood, and pulled her to her feet. “We should go. We must find out how the Ennoi fared.”
“We have to find you some clothes, remember?” Jenna giggled. They rifled through Lithyon’s closet until they found a cape large enough for Kovos to wear as a makeshift skirt.
Kovos wrapped his arm around Jenna’s shoulder as they left Lithyon’s chambers. He reeked of sweat and blood, he knew, but he also knew holding Jenna felt right. This was where they belonged. Together.
“My lady!” An Ennoi servant dressed in Haron colors raced up, and dropped a bow, first to Jenna, and then to Kovos, and then to Jenna once more. “The shuttle bay is currently off limits due to clean up efforts. The Ennoi are gathering in the banquet hall.”
Kovos suppressed a groan.
“I guess we’re stuck here a little longer,” Jenna said. She blinked as the Haron servant bowed to her again, and then scurried away, shooting glances over his shoulder. “What’s with him?”
Kovos stopped abruptly, and turned to her slowly.
She frowned up at him in puzzlement. “Now you’re giving me weird looks. Stop.”
“You don’t realize what you’ve done?”
Jenna clapped a hand to her cheek. “Oh! I took away their queen!”
The look on her face made Kovos laugh. “You also gave them a new one.”
It took a while, and then realization slowly dawned.
“Shut the front door!” Jenna shook her head violently enough to send her curls dancing. “No freaking way.”
“Yes,” Kovos replied with a smirk. “Welcome to your new kingdom.”
“I don’t know anything about running a kingdom!” wailed Jenna. “I-I-I have to pay a guy in a mall kiosk to file my taxes for me!”
Kovos laughed again, and seized her hand. He placed a kiss upon the back. “My moonsong, you will not have to care for an entire clan of Ennoi on your own. I have had some practice myself, as has Mother. Between the two of us, we can aid you.”
Jenna buried her face in her hands. “I can’t do it.”
“You can, and you will,” Kovos said, his voice gentle. “You are stronger and braver than you know.”
She sighed and dropped her hands. “Fake it ‘til you make it?”
Kovos kissed her again, and led her to the banquet chamber. They slipped in a side door, and took in the Ennoi crowd. Servants, rulers, diplomats, crew and guards milled around the room, in a riot of color and noise. The kitchen staff bustled in with new platters of food, and the crowd closest to the table surged forward to fill their plates.
Eventually, a Haron servant noticed Jenna. She paled, and clapped her hands loudly for attention. “Lady Jenna Harlock of Ennoi Haron and Lord Kovos of Ennoi Cadam,” she announced.
The chattering faded.
Kovos took a moment to appreciate the silence, and the fact that everyone’s focus wasn’t on him for once. Then he took pity on Jenna’s stricken face. He slammed his foot into the side of a wall, making a boom echo through the room.
“For Lady Jenna!” he roared.
The crowd exploded into cheers and thundering. When he felt Jenna begin to cower, he placed his hand on her back and pushed, making her stand tall.
“Chin up, moonsong. Back straight. Smile and be gracious,” he whispered.
To her credit, Jenna threw back her head, and waved. Gone was the shy little moonsong. Instead, she was bright and brilliant, gleaming like a lumi in darkness. Pride washed through Kovos.
Mine, he thought. Mine.
“Thank you!” Jenna dipped into an intricate curtsy, with quite a few hand flourishes as she sank to the ground. When she rose, the crowd was silent. She clasped her hands together, and beamed. “I am honored. The Ennoi are a powerful and mighty people.” Her smile faded, replaced by a frown. “It is a shame that Lady Lithyon has brought such dishonor to the Ennoi.”
Grumbles filled the room, but Kovos could tell they were directed at Lithyon.
“However, even I, a human, know that the Ennoi are resolute and unwavering in the face of disgrace. Her black deeds will not besmirch the good name of the Ennoi. Together, we can rebuild what she has destroyed. For where one Ennoi weeps, we all cry. Where one Ennoi treads, we all walk. Where one Ennoi laughs, we all rejoice.”
Jenna spread her hands wide. “Now, please, you have battled hard. Go enjoy your meal!”
Once the crowd had turned back to their meals, Jenna leaned into Kovos. Her body trembled against his.
“Did I do okay?” she said through teeth gritted into a smile.
“You were magnificent,” he replied. “I did not know you had such passion in your heart, nor such flamboyant turns of phrase.”
Her smile relaxed into a more natural curve. “I don’t. It’s the queen’s speech from ‘A Twisted Fate.’ It’s a play. I was the scullery maid, but I learned all the queen’s lines, just in case Belinda fell off the stage and broke her leg.”
“You are brilliant,” he replied. Maybe he didn’t understand half of what she said, but if he could keep looking at her face, it wouldn’t matter.
“Have I told you lately that I am very much in love with you?” Jenna said.
“I suppose Ennoi do not need to tell their love. They show it. Yet, you humans show your love in a different way.” He thought for a moment. “It is good to hear. Tell me you love me. Frequently.”
“I love you, Kovos. I love you, and I love you, and I love you again.” She rose up onto her toes and pecked him on the cheek. “I think I can spend the rest of my life telling you that.”
“An ideal plan,” he said, wrapping her in his arms.
Her smile faded. “Uh-oh, here comes trouble.”
Lord Bilkar pushed his way through the crowd. His robes were tattered, exposing his belly, and he wore pants which were too short. “Kovos,” he bellowed. “You owe us all an explanation. The Council will be most displeased by this invasion of Sykorians. In Cadam space! The Council demands answers!”
Kovos suppressed a groan.
How would Lith
yon handle this?
Still in his arms, Jenna placed a hand on his chest. He placed his hand over hers, feeling the throb of his two hearts beating in synchronization.
It doesn’t really matter how Lithyon would handle it, because Lithyon isn’t here.
Kovos took a deep breath. “I don’t owe anyone anything,” he said, his voice flat. “You will be wise to remember that the Sykorians were beaten back today due to the actions of Cadam Ennoi. We held the shuttle bay. We informed the Ennoi of the danger they faced.”
“Yet, some lived!” Lord Bilkar blustered. “They escaped!”
“And they will spread the word that the Ennoi are no longer on friendly terms with the Sykorians.”
“But Lady Lithyon! The Treaty-”
“-is stronger than ever,” Kovos continued. “You forget that Lady Lithyon is no longer ruler of the Ennoi Haron. Lady Jenna is now Queen Haron Ennoi.” He pulled her close. “And she is my Avowed, which means her lands are mine, and mine hers. We hold control of the Relays and the Cadam lumi mines.”
Lord Bilkar gaped.
“So,” Kovos said, “go get stuffed.”
“On the delicious meal!” Jenna added hurriedly. She shot a warning glance at Kovos. “You must be hungry after all the effort you expended during the battle. I heard you fought so bravely.”
Lord Bilkar swallowed back whatever words he wanted to say at the look in Kovos’s eyes. He turned his attention to Jenna, who fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Yes, it was quite the fight.” He chuffed his chest out. “Took down four Sykorians.”
Kovos rolled his eyes. He’d taken down ten times that number.
“Oh, my! Four!” Jenna said. “You will have to fill me in on the details when next we have a chance to speak. Please excuse us.”
She pulled Kovos away to a corner of the room. She flagged down a servant, and ordered them to bring food. As she watched Kovos eat, she shook her head.
“Your mother was right,” she said. “You need me.”
“Don’t let Mother hear you say that,” he warned. “She’ll never let me live it down.” He shoved another pastry into his mouth. “Aren’t you going to eat?”